'Chris Ault Field at Mackay Stadium' appropriate and well-deserved

One of my favorite memories of Coach Chris Ault and Mackay Stadium also happened to be one of my first memories of both the coach and the stadium.

It was Nov. 22, 1980 and it was The Day of the Hawk.

Frank Hawkins – the Wolf Pack’s three-time All-America running back – was playing his final home game.

Ault was 34 and in his fifth year as the head football coach of his alma mater.

I was a pimply faced UNR freshman sitting in the stands and yelling, “Go Hawk, Go!” with a few thousand other fans.

Sometime early in the fourth quarter of a Wolf Pack blowout win, Hawkins took another handoff – he had 265 yards rushing that day – and whatever the yardage was, it was enough to push him to 5,333 career yards. It was a Division I-AA record and also pushed him past two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin into third place on the all-time NCAA rushing list.

As the public address announcer blasted that tidbit over the loud speaker at Mackay, Ault came onto the field, grabbed Hawkins by the arm, led him to the middle of the field and presented him to the cheering crowd.

Forget, there were still a few minutes to play in the game. This was a genuine Mackay Stadium moment and Chris Ault wasn’t going to let it pass. To steal one of Ault’s favorite words, this was special.

That’s the image that popped into my head on Wednesday afternoon when UNR President Marc Johnson announced the naming of Chris Ault Field at Mackay Stadium.

This would be “a lasting honor to someone who gave a lasting contribution to this university and this community,” Johnson said.

This is special – and well-deserved.

And much credit goes to Doug Knuth, the new Nevada athletic director and Brian Polian, the Pack’s new head football coach, who led the effort to name the field for Ault, the College Football Hall of Fame coach.

Chris Ault has left an indelible footprint on the University of Nevada, Wolf Pack Athletics and college football, and it is only fitting that his name will grace the field on which he built that legacy of success and tradition," Knuth said.

Ault, who stepped down in December after 27 seasons and 233 wins in three different stints as head coach, not only built Wolf Pack football, but Mackay Stadium as well. And he did it with plenty of Mackay Moments – sometimes Mackay Miracles – that kept fans entertained, sometimes exasperated, and always interested.

Raise your hand if you sat through Snow Bowl I and II.

The original Mackay Miracle, the largest comeback in NCAA history, saw the Wolf Pack overcome a 49-14 deficit in the third quarter against Weber State and emerge with a 55-49 victory. Chris Vargas’ budding legend as the Pack’s Miracle Man was set in stone that day.

Nearly two decades later, the Pistol-poppin’ Pack, led by Colin Kaepernick, stunned No. 3 Boise State 34-31 on an overtime field goal by Anthony Martinez – arguable the biggest win in the football program’s history.

Kaepernick’s success with the San Francisco 49ers last year – along with the emergence of the Pistol offense in the NFL – brought Ault plenty of well-deserved national attention. Just last week, he was hired as a consultant by the Kansas City Chiefs.

It seems it only took Ault about 41 years to become an overnight sensation.

At Wednesday’s press conference, he pulled out his favorite descriptor quite a few times while thanking, first and foremost his family, his players, his coaches and his supporters in the community.

The official dedication of Chris Ault Field at Mackay Stadium will be Sept. 7, when Polian’s Wolf Pack opens its home season against UC Davis.

I’m not a script writer, but if I was, Hawkins, Vargas, Kaepernick and the hundreds of other players and coaches who helped Chris Ault build his Hall of Fame career would surround their old coach at midfield as the crowd cheered.

About me

Guy Clifton is a lifelong Nevada resident, growing up in the Nye County mining town of Gabbs. He attended the University of Nevada, Reno and has worked at the Reno Gazette-Journal since 1994. He has worked in virtually every department in the newsroom over the past 18 years. He is also the author of five books on Nevada history.